Member, Center for Bioethics and Medical HumanitiesNorthwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Going Under and Coming Round: Anesthesia and Illegibility

General anesthesia deliberately--and for very good reason--renders the patient unconscious so as to minimize the suffering caused by being sensate, awake, and alert during invasive medical procedures. The patient is also unable to generate communication--is rendered illegible. What does this mean in the context of the value we place on narrating illness experience, and on the role of memory and narration in cases of trauma? And what happens if a patient is not in fact entirely unconscious during the procedure?